


Underappreciated Fashion

by wastefulreverie



Series: PhannieMay Shots 2019 [22]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Emo, Friendship, Gen, Goth - Freeform, Hot Topic, Let Jazz have Friends, Minor Character(s), Wholesome, fashion - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-20 14:59:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18994954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wastefulreverie/pseuds/wastefulreverie
Summary: Fashion clearly didn’t determine someone’s IQ nor one’s abilities, that was just a fact. Adolescents should be allowed to a little space to express their identity to feel happiest as themselves, and Jazz’s psychology textbooks confirmed that. If this is what Spike wanted, then she would support him.





	Underappreciated Fashion

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Days 27 and 29 of Phanniemay 2019, Fashion and Favorite Prompt (Underappreciated).  
> Spike is the closest person outside of Team Phantom that Jazz seems to have any sort of friendship with and that's really underappreciated ☹

As three o'clock rolled around, students fled from their classrooms with a designated objective to escape. A majority of students flocked towards the bus loading area, while stragglers lingered behind. Jazz Fenton tiptoed to open her locker, a brown-haired boy behind her. It wasn't uncommon to see the two together these days; since the beginning of seventh grade, Jazz and Spencer had bonded over a lot.

They were both stellar students with high aspirations, idolatry pupils of Amity Middle School. Yet, until they met in Honors Algebra I, both had been ostracized, alone. It wasn't until their third or so conversation that they really hit it off; apparently both of them felt like their parents misunderstood them. Jazz's parents were eccentrics, wannabe ghost hunters who supported their daughter's achievements but in turn neglected her social development. Spencer's parents were strict, traditionalists that clamped down on every aspect of his life with unwavering judgement. _That rock song is a bit too rowdy, that Japanese cartoon is much too inappropriate, that shirt looks like a devil worshipper's, learning guitar won't help you become a doctor,_ et cetera….

Jazz had an interest in psychology. From her research, she determined that by limiting Spencer's interests, they were harming him in ways untold. They believed that darker clothes and loud music indicated lower intelligence, that going to anime club and poetry slams were a waste of time. Fashion _clearly_ didn't determine someone's IQ nor one's abilities, that was just a fact. Adolescents should be allowed to a little space to express their identity to feel happiest as _themselves_ , and Jazz's psychology textbooks supported that.

So, with a little persuasion, she developed a… _plan_ to help Spencer break free of his parents' overbearing authority. Maybe it was a bit on the wild side, but Jazz had nothing but good intentions. If it's what Spencer wanted, then she would assist him.

She rummaged through her locker, finding what she was looking for; six months worth of her savings, around three hundred dollars. Her family was a bit on the richer side, still middle class, but had enough money leftover from their government funding to pay a fairly good allowance. Spencer didn't know how much money she was just _giving_ to him, so she did her best to subtly pocket it; he didn't need to know, otherwise he'd refuse this entire plan. He was nervous enough as it was….

"I'm not sure about this," he muttered. "I've never walked anywhere _alone_."

Jazz closed her locker, turning to face him. "How are you alone if I'm here?" she asked. She started walking towards the school's front exit, leading him down the hallway.

"You know what I mean," he looked behind him, afraid that someone would be there, ready to stop them. "Alone as in there's no adults with us…."

"Oh, well. I walk around town sometimes but not a lot. It's usually fine," she dismissed. She nudged him encouragingly, "Just remember, your parents think that you're studying at my house right now. They won't catch us."

"I… I know…." he looked down. They were nearing the door now, almost outside….

Jazz picked up on his reluctance and softened. "Are you having second thoughts? Because we don't _have_ to do this…" she offered.

"No," Spencer shook his head. "I want to. You really helped me see that I should stop letting my parents stifle my identity."

"Alright." They'd reached the doors. Jazz walked forward and pushed them open, allowing Spencer to walk through first. "After you," she grinned. And together, they walked outside, leaving Amity Middle in their tracks.

* * *

The mall was luckily only a fifteen minute walk away. Every time a car passed, Spencer clammed up, afraid that it would be someone who knew him - that they would get caught before they even began their risky plan. By the time they made it to the parking lot, the high school had already let out of school. To buffer the bus schedule, Amity Middle released students before Casper High, that way the buses had time to drive between schools.

There were tons of teens just hanging outside the mall, goofing off and leaning over their cars. Pretty girls laughing with each other, leaning to the arms of their boyfriends as they walked towards the food-court. On the other side, there were delinquents standing by the dumpsters, passing around cigarettes, chain-smoking. The mall cop around the corner didn't notice, oblivious… or maybe just tired of trying to reprimand them.

It was surreal; both Jazz and Spencer were just used to going home after school, they didn't _really_ realize that other kids didn't do the same. Of course, these were High Schoolers… and the guys near the dumpster looked like soon-to-be dropouts. Jazz and Spencer weren't missing out much by typically being goody-two-shoes, that's for sure. Even if they had broken a few rules today by going somewhere without their parents' permission, it's not like they were _bad_ kids.

"Don't look over there," Jazz caught Spencer staring at the guys near the dumpsters for too long. She ushered him towards the mall's entrance, "They could beat us up. Come on."

"Okay," Spencer agreed, readverting his attention.

They walked through the entrance, still saddling their backpacks, and found the nearest directory. Jazz traced her finger along the list until she found the store she wanted. "Second story, above the foodcourt, across from Yankee Candle," she grinned. "Are you excited?"

"Kinda?" Spencer laughed. They moved from the directory to the escalator. "This'll be my first time actually buying stuff I like instead of _stupid_ striped sweaters."

"I'd never thought I'd see you so excited to go shopping," Jazz commented dryly.

"You're excited too. And I thought you weren't into girly activities, _Ms. Aspiring Psychologist Extraordinaire_."

"Okay, _punkrocker_ ," she rolled her eyes. "I'd hardly count shopping at Hot Topic a 'girly activity'."

There were on the second floor now, "Well," Spencer defended, "you gotta admit that the essence of shopping is girly."

"Oh really? Or is that just a societal perception? Is it girly when you go shopping at the grocery store, or for those anime books-"

"-manga. They're called _manga_ , Jazz."

"See," she pointed out. "You're passionate about those. Just because you like shopping for those doesn't make you girly. Using money to exchange for goods is not a 'girly activity', it's just marketed as something that women enjoy because of years of stereotyping in our society."

Spencer laughed, "Do you have to turn everything I say into a debate?"

"Maybe," she shrugged, looking away from Spencer for a moment. Just two storefronts away was their destination, "Oh, look we're here."

Before them was a grungy exterior with red, jagged letters, 'Hot Topic', and a wide arched doorway with a metal veneer. The front windows were lined with dark t-shirts and glossy posters of popular rock bands and superhero movies. Jazz had seen the storefront in passing before, but she never really focused on how many different things they sold. Spencer stood beside her, also breath-taken, "Wow…."

"Ready to redefine your look?" she smiled.

They stepped into the store, and almost instantly Spencer found something to focus on. "Jazz, oh my God they have Blink-182 t-shirts!"

She'd never heard of that band but nodded encouragingly, "Cool!"

"I'm getting it," he decided, finding a shirt in his size before flocking to another section of the store. She saw his eyes, they were much more jubilant than she had ever seen them. This was… _freeing_ for him. Getting to chose his own fashion for the first time in his life was crucial for him to express his interests, and she would support that no matter what. After picking out a few t-shirts, she noticed that Spencer was lingering by a glass case of different piercings.

"I think these are cool," he decided. "I want some one day."

"I think you have to be sixteen," Jazz pointed out. "And even then… I think you need parental permission."

He seemed a bit disheartened, but not wholly. "What about ear piercings?" Spencer raised a brow. "I've known girls who've had those since like… _pre-K_."

"I don't know," Jazz slumped. "We can research it later, if you want?"

"That'd be nice," he hummed, turning to find something else.

They'd chosen Friday afternoon to shop, so there weren't many other patrons. The only other people in the store were the cashier, a black-haired girl wearing a lace crop top and a lanyard with buttons; and a quiet, blue-haired boy browsing through figurines called Funkos.

"I want these jeans but I don't know if they'll fit me," Spencer complained, holding out a pair of black, ripped jeans. "Shirts are easy but I don't know about these…"

"There should be a dressing room somewhere," Jazz suggested. She subtly pointed towards the gloomy cashier, "I'd ask her."

He tensed, nervously. "I… I can't _talk_ to her. It's gonna be _awkward_ ," he stressed. "I have social anxiety, I can't just ask people things!"

"Well _I_ don't know where the dressing room is," Jazz frowned. "Asking her won't be that hard. It's her job to help customers."

"No, you don't get it," Spencer fretted. "I really can't do it Jazz. Asking someone I - I don't _know_ is just scary. I'm… I'm just not going to get these jeans," he set them down.

"You don't have to do that, you _like_ them," Jazz reasoned. "Do you want me to ask her instead?"

"I… I guess," he blushed, embarrassed that he had to rely on Jazz to ask for him.

"Hey," she sensed his shame, "don't worry about it. We all have that. I know why you're nervous about this, talking to people can be hard when you don't know what to expect. Why do you think you're my only friend, dummy?"

"I… you're right, Jazz."

"Good, now you're going to try on those jeans," Jazz approached the cashier, Spencer fidgeting anxiously beside her.

* * *

They stayed at Hot Topic for around two hours. In that time, Spencer accumulated eight black punk and anime t-shirts, a red flannel jacket, a Misfits hoodie, four pairs of skinny jeans, and a red beanie. Jazz ended up carrying the jeans, flannel, and beanie while Spencer hefted the t-shirts and hoodie. They both ended up struggling because they still had their backpacks on, but eventually they managed to carry Spencer's loot to the counter.

The cashier was unfazed by their excess purchase and rang it up wordlessly. "That's $289.24. You got the buy one get one $5 deal for the t-shirts, buy one get one free deal for the jeans, and twenty percent off your other purchases," she recounted. "Will that be all?"

Jazz looked up from where she had been looking. Below the counter they had buckets of various pins. "Yeah, it w-"

"How much are the pins?" Spencer cut her off, noticing her interest in the buckets.

"We have a buy one get two free deal for those right now," the cashier shrugged. "They're like… three bucks."

Even though Jazz had made it clear that she was covering most of the purchase, Spencer used one hand to unzip the front compartment of his backpack. He fumbled for his wallet and pulled out a ten dollar bill. "Pick out whichever ones you want," he smiled.

"Spence-"

"Go ahead, I know you like the Disney ones. You've already done this much for me."

"I… okay," she surrendered, realizing that if she didn't pick anything out, he would probably use his own judgement to pick _for_ her. She ended up picking out six pins: two Beauty and the Beast pins, a Sleeping Beauty pin, a music note pin, a unicorn pin, and a pin that said 'Too Tired to Function'.

The cashier scoffed, "Relatable," when she scanned the last pin. She started bagging their purchase up. "Do you have an email?" she asked

"Uh, yeah…" Spencer said.

"I'll you sign up for our subscription, that way you'll get Hot Cash in the mail," she recited. "What's your email address?"

"Uh - signing me up… uh…" he stuttered. He really didn't want his parents to see the coupons, even though he _did_ want them. If it was possible, he was planning to buy more stuff from here.

"You got this," Jazz gave him a thumbs up.

He hesitantly gave her his email address, and she started inputting his information. "Name?" If his parents did find the coupons in the mailbox… the last thing he would want was for _his_ name to be attached to it.

"I - uh… Sp- Spike," he improvised.

"Don't want your real name, huh kid?" the cashier laughed, "That's fine."

Jazz gave him a playful look. " _Spike_ , huh? Sounds a lot more punk than Spencer." She nudged him in elbow, "I like it."

"I came up with it on the spot," he admitted.

He ended up giving the casher the rest of his information and he and Jazz walked out of the store. From there, Jazz ended up using her Blackberry to text her parents. "Hopefully Mom picks us up," she complained. "If Dad is the one driving, it'll be a heck of a ride."

"Yeah," Spencer agreed. He'd only ridden with Jack Fenton once and once was enough. "So… how am I going to sneak all this home?" he gestured to the three Hot Topics bags that they had split between them. "It won't all fit in my backpack. If my parents catch me with these clothes… they'll throw them out."

"Oh, I've already thought of that," Jazz smiled. "For now, I'll keep the clothes. Then you'll text me the outfit you want to wear and I'll bring it to school. Then you can change into it! It won't work forever, but until we figure out how to make your parents accept your new fashion this'll have to work."

"That's… a pretty solid plan," he amended. _It really wasn't._

Jazz's phone buzzed, diverting her attention. She scanned the screen, "Mom just texted back. She'll be here in like three minutes since she was already at the grocery store. She'll take you home, we just have to get to the other side of the mall."

"Sounds good," he nodded, following Jazz back down the escalator.

He'd only had his new clothes for less than a few hours, but Spencer already felt a lot more… free. More himself. On the inside, he was still the same dorky honors student who loved going to poetry slams and watching anime, but on the outside he was more grungy, edgy, goth. More _comfortable_ in his own skin.

Fashion doesn't define who one is on the inside, it's just a fun way to express one's identity. And well, his new identity? That name earlier - _Spike_ \- that had a hell of a good ring to it. After Jazz's assurance, he was considering keeping it.


End file.
